Kenneth B. and Anne H.H. Pyle Center For Northeast Asian Studies

Named in honor of NBR’s founding president and his wife, the Pyle Center conducts research on Northeast Asia to advance the comprehensive study of the region, particularly as it pertains to its security, political, and economic dynamics.
Center projects are forward-looking, analyzing topics of importance for the medium- and long-term future of the region and generating new knowledge about the deep forces and processes driving and reshaping Northeast Asia. These projects seek to bridge the often deep fissures that divide academics and policymakers concerned with the region. The activities below highlight Pyle Center and other NBR events and publications related to Northeast Asia.

The U.S.-ROK Dialogue on Korean Unification and Regional Security is an annual conference convened by The National Bureau of Asian Research in partnership with the Korea Institute for National Unification involving government, academic, and private-sector participants from the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK).

In advance of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's February 2012 meeting with President Obama and senior administration officials in Washington, D.C., Cheng Li discussed the importance of the visit, the challenges that Xi and a new generation of leaders face, and how the U.S.-China relationship might evolve in coming years.

As new leaders assume power in Japan, China, and South Korea, what domestic and foreign policy challenges do these countries face? In this Asia Policy roundtable, experts from NBR’s conference “Northeast Asia in Transition: New Leadership, New Dynamics” assess the implications of recent leadership transitions.

Speaking on November 13, 2012, at the 2012 Pyle Center Conference on leadership transitions in Northeast Asia, Kenneth B. Pyle (University of Washington) discussed the state of the U.S.-Japan alliance, Japan's desire for greater autonomy, and what the upcoming leadership change might mean. Learn more and watch conference video, including Dr. Pyle's presentation.

On October 16, 2012, NBR partnered with the Congressional Study Group on Japan and the U.S.-Japan Council for an off-the-record briefing hosted by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to discuss the Diet of Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission findings with its chairman Kiyoshi Kurokawa and Charles Ferguson (Federation of American Scientists).

On March 19, 2012, Commander of U.S. Pacific Command Admiral Robert Willard traveled to Japan with his wife Donna to reinforce America’s support for Japan and oversee disaster relief efforts. Learn more about his visit, Operation Tomodachi, and other relief efforts. (Photo Source: Nathan A. Bailey/Stars and Stripes)

NBR spoke with National Asia Research Associate William W. Grimes (Boston University), an expert on the political economy of Japan and East Asia. Without downplaying the seriousness of events, Grimes explains the economic repercussions may not be as bad as some initially feared. Read the full interview to learn more.

On February 9, 2011, National Asia Research Associate Adam Segal (Council on Foreign Relations) provided a comprehensive and optimistic overview of the ways in which American innovation has an edge in the global marketplace and how the U.S. can successfully leverage these advantages in the future, in a thought-provoking discussion with local business executives, entrepreneurs, and policymakers.

National Asia Research Fellow Sung-Yoon Lee (Tufts University) discussed China's interests in a post-Kim Dynasty Korean Peninsula and the implications for U.S. policy in the region on January 24 at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The talk was co-presented by the Wilson Center's Asia Program. Access video, audio and an event summary.

“Clashing political and military objectives will define the rivalry between the U.S. and China,” according to Dan Blumenthal, author of this edition of NBR Analysis. Learn more about the dynamic Sino-U.S. balance of power in Asia in Sino-U.S. Competition and U.S Security: How Do We Assess the Military Balance?

Access video and audio from a November 2010 roundtable held at the University of Washington entitled “Effective Leadership and the U.S.-China Economic Relationship,” jointly sponsored by NBR and the UW Jackson School of International Studies, and featuring NBR NARP Associates Thomas Rawski and Minxin Pei as well as David Loevinger, Senior Coordinator for China and Strategic and Economic Dialogue, U.S. Department of Treasury.

The tenth issue of Asia Policy featured articles on the U.S.-Japan alliance, Chinese foreign and domestic policymaking, and a roundtable discussion on Guobin Yang's book The Power of the Internet in China.

On July 1, 2010, NBR, in partnership with the Korea Institute for Future Strategies (KiFS), hosted a public roundtable discussion at Johns Hopkins-SAIS entitled “Trust Building in Northeast Asia: Enhancing Mutual Understanding between Korea and the United States.”

In this June 2010 NBR Analysis David M. Lampton highlights four sources of mutual strategic mistrust that, if insufficiently attended to by Washington and Beijing, will metastasize in the U.S-China relationship. Lampton identifies ways in which the United States can manage and reduce tension in bilateral relations.

NBR's Pyle Center and Fudan University’s Center for Chinese Foreign Policy Studies co-hosted an October 20-22 workshop in Shanghai, China, to examine the drivers and trends that have influenced Chinese foreign policy over its 60-year history. (Photo by: Dale Ellerm)

This report by Michael Finnegan examines the U.S.-Japan alliance to answer three related questions: Is the alliance meeting the mutual expectations of the partners? If not, what are the potential consequences? Given the stakes involved, what are the policy implications for the alliance?

Responding to the 2008 NBR Analysis, Assessing Regional Reactions to China’s Peaceful Development Doctrine, scholars Shulong Chu and Xiao Ren share their views on China’s peaceful development strategy and evaluate the reactions by the international community.

NBR's report "Emerging Leaders in East Asia: The Next Generation of Political Leadership in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan" represents the culmination of a year-long initiative launched to provide a better understanding of the qualities and characteristics that define East Asia’s rising leaders and to anticipate the possible implications of their emerging influence for U.S. policy interests.

Featured Initiatives

The China Rising Leaders Program is designed to assemble a delegation of mid-career up-and-coming leaders from the PRC and bring them to the United States to meet with key decision makers in government and influential figures in the business and non-profit communities.

The annual invitation-only People's Liberation Army Conference assembles the world’s leading specialists from academe, government, the military, and policy think tanks to examine critical trends in the study of China’s military.

Featured Publications

In Strategic Asia 2012-13: China’s Military Challenge, leading experts assess and forecast the impact of China’s growing military capabilities. What are China’s strategic aims? What are the challenges and opportunities facing the United States? How is the region responding to China’s military power and to the U.S. policy of “strategic rebalancing”?

Read a Book Review Roundtable on Kenneth B. Pyle’s book Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose and Richard J. Samuels’ Securing Japan: Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia from the July 2007 issue of Asia Policy.

Pyle Center Board of Counselors

Michael A. Armacost
Stanford University

Richard J. Ellings
The National Bureau of Asian Research

Aaron L. Friedberg (Board Chairman)
Princeton University

Francis Fukuyama
Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)

Chae-Jin Lee
Claremont McKenna College

Kenneth Lieberthal
University of Michigan

Dwight A. Perkins
Harvard University

Kenneth B. Pyle
University of Washington and The National Bureau of Asian Research

Stephen P. Rosen
Harvard University

Richard J. Samuels
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Stephen Sestanovich
Council on Foreign Relations

Pyle Center Gala

In 2006 NBR formally established the Kenneth B. and Anne H.H. Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies. Learn more about the Pyle Center Gala.

Japan Foundation Award

Professor Pyle was presented the Japan Foundation Special Prize for Japanese Studies in ceremonies that included an audience with the Emperor and Empress of Japan in October 2008. Learn more about the award.